Five Major Themes of the Qur’an Critical Essay

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Introduction

The holy Quran is the basis of Islam. The divine revelation contained in the Quran helps Muslims to understand Islamic teachings. As a result, Islam cannot be understood without first having understood the basics of the Holy Quran. For one to fully understand the Quran and its teaching, he or she has to go beyond the five pillars and realize the divine intellect contained in the Quran.

The objective of the essay is to explore the five major themes contained in the Quran. This will be achieved through an exploration of different Quran Suras and verses. The five themes have been derived from the Sura of Mary, the Sura of the Prophets and the Sura of Counsel. The significant issues of the Holy Quran are God, prophets, man, divine scriptures, and sin.

The first major theme of the Quran is God, also referred to as Allah (Madigan 82). According to the teachings of The Quran, there is no other God other than Allah, the mighty and the highest (Madigan 80). God in the Quran has been regarded as compassionate and merciful to humankind.

God is merciful to man, and as such, man has the obligation of serving God. As noted in The Quran, God is “the mighty, the wise, inspire thee and those before thee “(42:1). The implication is that God is wise, mighty and inspires man through His creation. Also, He is the highest in addition to being above what is found on the earth and in heaven. Moreover, God watches over those who stand beside Him.

He is kind and compassionate. He forgives man from his sins. This observation is supported by the Sura of Counsel as contained in The Quran which states that “God is kind to His servants; He provides whom He will, and He is the mighty, the glorious” (The Quran 42:18). God created both heaven and others, and as a result, he is above all his creations. God also created day and night and gave man the power and will to differentiate good from evil (The Quran 21: 34).

The second theme of the pillar is God has given that man free will and choice. The presence of God in man’s life gives it meaning, both personally and collectively. A man was created by God, who has endowed him with free choice. According to The Quran, God watches over man and forgives man from his sins (The Quran 42:3). The Quran teachings go ahead to explain that God “answers the prayer of those who believe and do right, and gives them increase of His grace; but the misbelievers, – for them is keen torment” (The Quran 42: 25).

This implies that the man who believes in God does the right thing and prays to God. In turn, God answers the prayers of such a man. Also, God shares his blessings with such a man. However, a nonbeliever faces the wrath of God for his sins. This is because man has been given the free will, choice, and the ability to differentiate good from evil.

Furthermore, God’s mercy on man is shown through Zachariah who was given a child at old age and with his barren wife (The Koran 19:1). Therefore, whereas God remembers man all the time, on the other hand, a man remembers God only when he is in need. A man who believes in God and lives by his teaching and remains a loyal servant like Zachariah is endowed with God’s grace.

The third theme of the Quran is the prophets. Based on the teachings of the Holy Quran, God speaks to the man through the Holy Scriptures as envisioned by early prophets like Muhammad. The prophets reside besides God, and they are found on earth and in heaven (The Quran 21:22). An excellent example of the prophets is Muhammad. Another proclaimed prophet was Abraham (The Quran 19:42), the father of all nations and humankind.

Others include Moses, Ismail, Idris, and Aaron, among others. According to the Holy Quran, Mary was able to conceive by receiving a breath from the prophets, “And she (Mary) who guarded her private parts, and we breathed into her of our Spirit, and we made her and her son a sign unto the worlds” (The Quran 21:19). This means that Mary was able to give birth to a son through the power of the prophets who breathed their holy spirit on her. Prophets have lifted so many people, according to the Holy Quran.

At the end of times, prophets will drag men and devils around hell, and they shall be answerable to God on judgment day (The Quran 19:70). The presence of prophets is shown through a messenger to Mary. The divine scriptures state that “I am only a messenger of thy Lord to bestow on thee a pure boy” (The Koran 19:19). This implies Mary bore a child through the will of God and this was communicated through a prophet.

The fourth pillar of the Quran is sin or evil. God gave man free will and the choice to differentiate evil from good. Because of their sin, men will be dragged in hell and brought on their knees (19:70). The Holy Quran speaks of the theme of evil (sin) which is personified by Iblis or Satan (Madigan 82).

Satan disobeyed God, and since then he has remained the most significant rival to man. Besides, Satan is always encouraging man to disobey God. Wickedness is drawn from Satan’s strength which compels a man to sin. However, because God is merciful, he forgives and pardons the sins committed by man (The Quran 42:24). According to the teaching from the Holy Quran, God pardons those who have sinned against him and rewards those who do well.

The Quran warns the man to be on guard of the Iblis since he is always on the trail of the man. The prophets reside on earth to protect man and save the believers from the evil and evildoers (21:87-88). As a result, man is kept away from sin.

The fifth and last theme of the Quran is divine scriptures. The Quran contains sacred scriptures which were revealed to Prophet Muhammad through God (Allah). The religious scriptures assist man in keeping close to God and preventing him from sinning. The divine scriptures act as a guide to man, thereby aiding him to operate following the will of God. God’s mercy and the work of the prophets are proclaimed through divine scriptures.

The Quran state that, “God it is who has sent down the Book with truth and the balance” (The Quran 42:16). In this context, the “Book” is used to refer to the Holy Quran which contains the divine scriptures as revealed to Muhammad by Allah. The sacred scriptures act as a guide to man through God’s power.

The word “Book” which contains the divine scriptures is mentioned severally. For instance, it appears in Sura 19, verse 16, 42, 52, and 57. Therefore, the holy scriptures as depicted in the Quran, talk about God, Man, His relations with man, and the relationship that man has with nature. It is through the divine scripture that man is kept away from sin.

Conclusion

To sum it up, the Holy Quran acts as the basis of Islam, and its teachings are pivotal in understanding Islam. Based on the essay, it can be concluded that the major themes of the Holy Quran are God, prophets, man, divine scriptures, and sin. God is merciful, forgiving and is above all what is on earth and in heaven. Man is guided by the sacred scriptures which were a revelation of Prophet Muhammad. Through divine scriptures, God can protect man from sin.

Evil originates from Iblis (Satan) who is always trying to deceive man to disobey God. God pardons the man who believes in Him and does according to His will. Prophets, as depicted in the Quran, reside with God both in heaven and on earth, and they will gather all men and bring them before hell. Man will have to kneel before hell as God passes judgment. Rewards shall be accorded to men who walk in the path of God.

Works Cited

Madigan, Daniel. The Cambridge Companion to the Quran. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

The Koran. Sura 42: Counsel. n.d. Web.

The Quran. Oxford World’s Classics. Trans. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem. Oxford, Mass: Oxford University Press, 2008. Print.

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